Field Notes from a Catastrophe book review

Elizabeth Kolbert is a writer for the New Yorker magazine. A three-part series she wrote for the magazine in 2005 has been converted into a short, well-researched, and very readable book on climate change called, "Field Notes from a Catastrophe" ($15 from amazon.com). The science presented is excellent, and I couldn't find any errors. Kolbert visits leading climate change scientists in the field, spending time in the Arctic, Greenland, Dr. James Hansen's laboratory, and in United Nations climate change meetings. We get to see the science the way these scientists see it, which is a very powerful way to emphasize the major climate changes that are already underway on our planet.

Kolbert delivers a memorable description of a visit to Alaska, where record temperatures have begun melting permafrost that formed at the beginning of the last ice age, 120,000 years ago. She visits the remote island of Sarichef, five miles off the coast of the Seward Peninsula. A subsistence hunting village has existed there for centuries. However, the entire population of 591 must be relocated to the mainland because the island is eroding away. The problem? Lack of the customary sea ice in the fall has allowed storm surges from the powerful storms that hit during that season to push far inland. Kolbert talks to an Inuit hunter named John Keogak, who lives in Canada's Northwest Territories, 500 miles north of the Arctic circle. He and his fellow hunters started seeing robins for the first time a few years ago. The Inuits have no word for the bird in their language. Kolbert travels to "drunken forests" where the trees lean at crazy angles due to the collapse of the permafrost beneath. In one of many of the odd and amusing observations the book is sprinkled with, she writes:A few blocks beyond the drunken forest, we came to a house where the front yard showed clear signs of ice wedge melt-off. The owner, trying to make the best of things, had turned the yard into a miniature golf course.

As the title implies, this is not a cheerful book, and Kolbert paints a gloomy picture of the how climate change is affecting the planet. I highly recommend the book for those interested in reading about climate change. Three and a half stars.

ok - gotta say i now log in for the outburst on ST's crap - not even for the weather. He is an idiot and I don't even CARE what his predictions are anymore. I can't forecast myself out of a paper BAG and (think) i live in a place that could be hit seriously sometime at some point (forgive me ST, I may be wrong - Savannah here) but I don't take this guy even remotely seriously at any time any more since he comes off like such a know-it-all. Sorry ST = even if you know what you're talking about - if you come off like a jerk, no one is going to listen...

Goodnight all - lots of informative and funny posts (StormTop would be completely hilarious if he was just a persona - unfornately I guess he is just a really sad character - he used to make me mad but now despite concern for him I just smile)

From the link that FlCrackerGirl posted to the live sea turtles lying on the beach show. If the old myth that goes ~ when the sea turles lay low on the beach, expect no big hits during the hurricane season, is true. Then, the turtles have spoken, Brevard County is in the no big storm zone this year & it will be nothing like 2004.

somewhat unexpectedly...Carlotta has made a comeback this evening. Deep convection has increased in both coverage and intensity nearthe center...and a cloud-filled eye has developed. Satelliteintensity estimates have increased to 77 kt from TAFB...and are 65kt from SAB and AFWA. Based on this...Carlotta is upgraded to a70-kt hurricane. The cyclone has fair to good cirrus outflow inall directions except the northeast where it is poor.The initial motion is 285/9. Carlotta remains on the south side ofa mid/upper-level ridge over northwestern Mexico...the southwesternUnited States...and the adjacent Pacific waters. The storm is alsoapproaching the normal strong low-level ridge over the northeasternPacific. The large-scale models forecast the upper-level ridge tostay present north of Carlotta for the next several days...althoughthere are some differences in the strength caused by the handlingof an upper-level low currently over eastern Mexico. Theupper-level ridge should turn Carlotta westward over the next dayor two...with the low-level ridge continuing the westward motion asCarlotta weakens over cooler water. However...the track guidanceis not in good agreement on this scenario. After about 48 hr...theNOGAPS calls for a west-northwestward motion...the GFDL calls for asouthward motion...the UKMET a slower west-northwestward motion...and the BAMS a faster west-southwestward motion. The new forecasttrack compromises between these extremes with a westward motion of6-8 kt through the forecast period. The track is essentially anupdate of the previous track.Carlotta should reach the 26c sea surface temperature isotherm in afew hours and then move over progressively cooler water. Thevertical wind shear is forecast to remain light...so the intensityforecast calls for a gradual weakening through the forecast period. Sea surface temperature analyses from NCEP in Washington DC show acold water eddy ahead of Carlotta...and if the storm passes overthis features it could weaken faster than currently forecast.

thanks progressive,, I live in Fla panhandle and I can talk for everyone I guess in sayin we sure could use a break from gulf storms but, we r very dry. so a minor depression would be welcome to bring beneficial rains.